British Psychoanalytic Association

24/11/2025

"At first glance, psychoanalysis and the worlds of critical psychiatry and critical psychology look like strange bedfellows. One has often been caricatured as navel-gazing for the well-to-do, while the other has been forged in the language of rights, struggle, and collective action.

Yet we have come to see psychoanalysis as a strong ally in restoring dignity, depth, and meaning to mental health practice. It offers a way of working that connects lived phenomenology with history, injustice, and the social worlds we inhabit. This allows clinicians to move past symptom chasing and offer a path toward insight into one’s life, with understanding, humility, and compassion."

Explore this series of articles here:

A wide-ranging, interdisciplinary exploration of class and labor in psychoanalytic thinking and the psychoanalytic professional field.

21/11/2025

In this podcast episode, Argentinian psychoanalyst Mariano Horenstein asks: How do we listen to the language of sexuality today?

Through an exploration of the relationship between language and psychoanalysis and the historical transformation of the clinical paradigms that have shaped psychoanalytic listening to date: hysteria, in its origins, with its enigmatic language surrounded by silences, which inaugurated the analytical device; psychosis, which after the Second World War led to the expansion of the field, forcing us to give voice and testimony where the absence of repression predominated; the author shows us the trans clinic as a new paradigm that is currently emerging, not only because it requires the analyst to be heard, but also because it bursts onto the scene with its own voice and avatars of inclusive language, directly challenging psychoanalytic theory and practice, and thus bringing sexuality back to the centre of the psychoanalytic stage and debate.

Listen here:

"X". Calle Alcalá, Madrid. Photograph by Ana M. Martín Solar. With the evocative title “Once Again, the Mystery”, the Argentine psychoanalyst Mariano Horenstein poses the equally enigmatic question: How do we listen to the language of sexuality today? Through an exploration of the relationship...

18/11/2025

Join us on Saturday, 13 December, to learn more about the poetry of George Mackay Brown and the psychoanalytic imagination. Discussant Raine Geoghegan will join BPA psychoanalyst David Morgan.

Drawing on Brown’s Orkney-rooted poetics and his injunction to “carve the runes / then be content with silence,” the seminar will explore the shared paradox of poetry and psychoanalysis: that words must be shaped and spoken, yet also relinquished so that silence may transform them.

The event is offered both online via Zoom and in person in London.

Find out more and book your tickets here: https://www.psychoanalysis-bpa.org/events/bpa-event-the-poetic-mind-seminar-carve-the-runes-then-be-content-with-silence

16/11/2025

“The similarity between Freud and Kohelet [Ecclesiastes] is that both of them believe that there’s no overarching totalistic system that integrates all the disparate experiences that one has. You have that, Freud says, in psychotics, and you have that in philosophers, and you have that in devout people – they look for systematicity. They try to cram everything into a framework of meaning. Both Freud and Kohelet reject that. They don’t have a worldview in that way. However, in order to flourish, you do need a meaning-giving, affect-integrating and action-guiding set of considerations. You can’t just be out there like a windowless monad floating around. There are some core beliefs and values that anchor a person, that give them footing. So there’s a difference between a totalizing worldview and a workable framework that’s open to critique.”

Listen here:

“The similarity between Freud and Kohelet [Ecclesiastes] is that both of them believe that there’s no overarching totalistic system that integrates all the disparate experiences that one has. You have that, Freud says, in psychotics, and you have that in philosophers, and you have that in devout...

14/11/2025

Our popular Introductory Lectures series will be running again from January 2026! The series introduces fundamental psychoanalytic ideas and explores a range of topics in greater depth. Delivered by BPA psychoanalysts, presentations are followed by a group discussion.

Lectures take place on Wednesday evenings, 8-9.30 pm UK time, from January to July 2026 (with half-term breaks).

Find out more here:

Psychoanalysis: Key Concepts and a Contemporary Perspective This series of lectures introduces fundamental psychoanalytic ideas and explores a range of topics in greater depth. Delivered by BPA Psychoanalysts, presentations are followed by a group discussion. The series is organised so as to build u...

07/11/2025

In this blog post from IPA International Psychoanalytical Association, Sara Ekenstierna argues that humanity's tragic yet creative struggle with inner conflict and duality holds the key to both our suffering and potential for transformation.

Read here: https://ipa.world/ipa/Dev/News_Stories/Blogs/Blog_Pages/The_Human_Tragicomedy.aspx

03/11/2025

"Some time ago, I realized that there was such a thing for me as experiencing my patients as being friends, but they were psychoanalytic friends. It was a psychoanalytic friendship that was quite unique and unlike any other friendship. I think that’s what people are talking about when they write about psychoanalytic love. It’s not love like any other kind of relationship, because the psychoanalytic relationship is so unique. And I feel the same way about psychoanalytic parenting. It’s like it’s close to mentoring, but it’s different because the structure of the relationship is different than from a mentor or an esteemed and loved teacher. It really is helping somebody with the whole process of development and helping them grow, mature, and become more comfortable with themselves and to know themselves better. That seems to me the essence of parenting, and I don’t think we should feel defensive about thinking about it that way. That doesn’t seem to me that it’s my counter-transference in needing to be a good mother, a good father, a good parent to my patients.”

Listen here:

“Some time ago, I realized that there was such a thing for me as experiencing my patients as being friends, but they were psychoanalytic friends. It was a psychoanalytic friendship that was quite unique and unlike any other friendship. I think that’s what people are talking about when they write...

30/10/2025

The film 'Where the Wild Things Are' is about a lonely and mischievous young boy named Max who sails to a mysterious island inhabited by monstrous, yet emotionally complex, creatures called the Wild Things. Directed by Spike Jonze, it is an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved 1963 children's book.

Join us for an exclusive screening of 'Where the Wild Things Are' in London on Sunday, 2 November, followed by a panel discussion with Rael Meyerowitz (psychoanalyst), Nina Wessels (psychoanalyst) and chaired by Joan Thompson (psychoanalyst).

To book your ticket, go to: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/britishpsychoanalyticassociation/1867312?mc_cid=e4bccbb905&mc_eid=20212000d9

Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcBPzqxBnRU

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27/10/2025

The latest blog article from the Freud Museum London recounts the story of Paula Fichtl, the Freud family’s long-time housekeeper: https://www.freud.org.uk/2025/10/10/meet-paula-fichtl-sigmund-freuds-devoted-housekeeper/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNnYZRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBwQXR3ZFFKZnhCTjllTzRKAR44Z8pvdb35xMfj1IDtYM12WqjB4YEcyEmmsiGIjWfWIXqEdAD5ws15X1rWWw_aem_UdFztH7oinE8j3MXovL79A

Freud Museum London's upcoming exhibition 'Housekeeper', by British artist Cathie Pilkington, brings to life the figure of Paula Fichtl to reflect on the invisible labour involved in caring for the house and its collection.

Garden Closed to the PublicEssential conservation work is underway. The garden is temporarily closed. Thank you for your understanding.

25/10/2025

Join us for an exclusive screening and discussion of 'Where the Wild Things Are' in London on Sunday, 2 November.

The film, directed by Spike Jonze, is an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved 1963 children's book. It's about a lonely and mischievous young boy named Max who sails to a mysterious island inhabited by monstrous, yet emotionally complex, creatures called the Wild Things.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Rael Meyerowitz (psychoanalyst), Nina Wessels (psychoanalyst) and chaired by Joan Thompson (psychoanalyst).

Book your ticket here:

Film Screening - Where the Wild Things Are – Hampstead Everyman Cinema, Sun 2 Nov 2025 - The British Psychoanalytic Association (BPA) presents an exclusive screening of: Where the Wild Things Are At the Hampstead Everyman Cinema, 5 Holly Bush Vale, NW3 6TX (Tube: Hampstead Nor...

23/10/2025

Listen to psychoanalysts Jamieson Webster and Jordan Osserman as they discuss the recently republished, revised translation of Françoise Dolto's 'Dominique: The Case of an Adolescent'.

Child psychoanalyst Françoise Dolto has been little translated and remains curiously unknown in the English-speaking world. First published in 1971, 'Dominique: The Case of an Adolescent' is a granular psychological portrait of a troubled adolescent and his familial inheritance, and a historical case study of French society in the 1960s.

Listen here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/dominique-the-case-of-an-adolescent

20/10/2025

Join us on Saturday, 8 November 2025, in person or online via Zoom, for an opportunity to:

- learn more about our organisation, training, pre-training courses and post-training opportunities

- ask questions and join small discussion groups to consider your particular circumstances.

You will learn about the application process and details of the training, hear from a candidate about their experience of the training and from analysts about life working as a psychoanalyst.

Find out more here: https://www.psychoanalysis-bpa.org/events/bpa-open-day-2025/